Poll: GOP 2016 pick a 4-way split

Republican voters remain undecided over their favorite candidate for the 2016 presidential election while Democrats are rallying heavily behind Hillary Clinton as their front-runner, according to a new poll released Tuesday.

The Public Policy Polling survey shows that Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul are the favorites among Republican voters, tied at 16 percent. But Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Jeb Bush closely follow at 15 and 14 percent, respectively, setting up a virtual tie between the four potential candidates.

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Things are much clearer among Democrats, with Hillary Clinton trouncing Vice President Joe Biden — the second place candidate — by 55 points. She receives 67 percent of Democratic support compared to his 12 percent.

Among the four Republican favorites, Cruz fares the worst against Clinton, losing to her by 17 points in a national survey. PPP notes that an election featuring Cruz and Clinton “has the potential of producing the most lopsided national popular vote result since Lyndon Johnson routed Barry Goldwater in 1964.”

Among the Republican candidates, Christie comes the closest to beating Clinton, trailing her by only five points at 39 percent to her 44 percent.

The poll draws strong attention to ideological divisions between conservatives and moderates within the Republican Party. Despite Cruz’s weak performance in the virtual matchup between himself and Hillary Clinton, conservative Republicans list him as their top choice, followed by Rand Paul who is 8 points behind him.

Within the Republican Party, Christie carries only 3 percent of the vote among conservatives, compared to 26 percent for Cruz. Among moderate Republicans, however, Christie commands 36 percent versus Cruz’s 5 percent.

The three surveys of 649 American voters, 400 likely Democratic primary voters, and 629 likely Republican primary voters, were conducted from Oct. 29 to Oct. 31. The national survey has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.8 percent; the Democratic portion has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.9 percent; and the Republican portion is margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.9 percent.